Red Bull bat away solution to RB21 problem: 'Max Verstappen would not be happy'

Red Bull technical director Pierre Waché has stated Red Bull can take some learnings from its sister team as it looks to combat its current concerns with the RB21 car.

However, the 50-year-old has warned against taking too much from the Faenza-based outfit and limiting the potential of Max Verstappen's championship-challenging car.

Red Bull's F1 machines have caused headaches at the team in recent years due to their narrow operating window.

While Max Verstappen has been able to extract performance from the challengers, his team-mates have struggled to do so, leaving it fighting one-handed at the front of the field.

Sergio Perez parted ways with Red Bull at the end of the 2024 campaign after a period of poor performance and was replaced by Liam Lawson - however, the New Zealander had just two races with the Milton Keynes-based outfit before being deposited back to Racing Bulls.

Yuki Tsunoda is currently in the hot seat alongside Verstappen, but has faced similar struggles. The Japanese driver has scored seven points with the team, while in the same period, Verstappen has clinched 101.

Speaking exclusively to RacingNews365, Waché highlighted the importance of having two drivers fighting towards the top of the field. 

“Yes, it’s difficult,” the Frenchman said. “We are a team and problems are part of it. We are rewarded for the team championship.

“[For us], it’s very important to have a second driver performing well. As a technical [leader], it’s important to have two drivers giving feedback and views.

“Even more if they operate close to each other, it’s even better for us at the top.

“At the moment, it’s not what we have. We have to try and help Yuki as much as possible, like we did in the past.

“We didn’t manage with Checo, we didn’t manage with Liam. With Yuki, we are trying.”

The interview continues below. 

Red Bull has a unique set-up in F1 as it is the only squad to have ownership of two teams.

While the Racing Bulls car is seemingly a much easier machine to handle, it lacks pace to the Red Bull - at least in the hands of Verstappen.

Waché indicated Red bull is not keen to reduce the potential of the RB21 in an effort to make it kinder to drive.

“I’m not sure that we want to create a VCARB,” he stated. “We can learn stuff, but if we gave that to Max, I’m not sure that he would be happy.

“He’s our main asset in terms of performance. [We don’t want to] reduce the overall potential of the car to make it easier.”

Red Bull has largely been unable to keep up with the McLaren team this year, with the latter boasting a huge lead in the championship following its electric start to the year.

As it looks to crawl back some of the advantage, Waché detailed it Red Bull can monitor where its sister team's strengths lie and attempt to apply them to its own car going forward.

“It doesn’t mean we don’t have to improve,” he added.

“What we can extract from these cars [VCARB] is the degradation, the race pace.”